Moseley Bog investment promises £1.4 million of benefit for local people and wildlife

Thursday 26th July 2012

Bug Hunt at Mosely Bog - Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust

The Wildlife Trust commissioned an economic evaluation of the benefits arising from the works supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Natural England, Advantage West Midlands and other funders. The report, prepared by Oliver Hölzinger, an Environmental Economist with the Consultancy for Environmental Economics & Policy, concludes the net benefit from the works will be of the order of £1.4 million.

Moseley Bog & Joy’s Wood LNR attracts worldwide interest because J. R. R.Tolkien acknowledged the site was an inspiration for his books The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The case study evaluates the value of ecosystem services the site provides to human wellbeing, with a focus on the major improvements the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country is undertaking.

Ecosystem services and the benefits they provide to human welfare are still ignored or strongly undervalued and not adequately assessed in planning and policy. One reason is that most benefits are not marketable. Economic valuation of ecosystems can help to mitigate this undervaluation and is receiving increasing attention by academia and politics.

Monetarisation makes ecosystem services more tangible for decision makers and planners. Moseley Bog & Joy’s Wood LNR will provide services to human wellbeing valued at £226,604 annually after the improvements are finished and expected visitor counts are reached. This is almost double as much as before and not all services have been evaluated in scope of this case study. It is predicted that the investment in the improvements and activities will generate net benefits of almost £1.4 million until 2035 and will pay off in 2018.